According to the organizers of the filmfest, KABOOM may have been the film that they had to fight for most. Gregg Araki's tenth film was withdrawn from the Frightfest in the very last second, and not intended for screening on any other filmfest for possibly months. After all, how do you advertise a film like KABOOM, which consists to 75% of teenagers that are obviously WAY older having sex and spitting venomous, humorous dialogue at each other?
If there is no way to promote KABOOM properly, let me try: KABOOM is one of the best films of this filmfest and this year!! It's hilarious, it's confrontational, it's random, it's beautifully shot, it's sexy and has a brilliant soundtrack!!
The film opens with Dekker re-telling a re-accurring dream (the sequence can be watched on youtube). We then get to know the guy a little better: he is 18, suffering from teen-horniness, queer (that means bi-sexual), drooling for his ripped yet brainless roommate Thor and a huge fan of EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY. From there, the film introduces us to dozens of completely over-the-top characters that seem to have no other reason to be there except to do random, very funny things. However, as the plot unfolds, we learn that there's more to Dekker and his everyday life than it seems at first. He seems to be followed by strange men wearing masks and soon some supernatural things occur to him and his best friend Stella, who is also bi and in a relationship with a witch...
Imagine one of those completely self-involved art/entertainment-porn films, just without the porn, and what you get is pretty much KABOOM. Closer to NOWHERE than to MYSTERIOUS SKIN, the film takes us back to the mid-90s works by Araki, yet is a lot more nuanced and well written, and thus closer to MYSTERIOUS SKIN than it seems on first glance.
When NOWHERE came out, the film was both a commentary and a testament to the Generation X and the 90s in general - KABOOM however is a timeless piece of hilarious over the top arthouse comedy. It is without boundaries and taboos and makes fun of heterosexuality and gay lifestyle alike, likely to offend extremists of both christian right wing and gay rights movements. The soundtrack spans from the 80s to last year and the cinematography is reminiscent of Kubrick and hardcore porn.
The actors range from Araki veterans like James Duvall and genre favorites like Juno Temple and Roxane Mesquida to aspiring indie darlings like Haley Bennett and Thomas Dekker. They all look, act and fit very well, tying the various elements of the film closer together, resulting in a perfectly shaped and polished film.
With KABOOM, Araki has come full circle - he has embraced trash queer and Cannes arthouse, has brought sex and fantasy, drama and comedy together. His next two projects will be "typical genre horror". We can only hope he stays on track, because if his next films are as great as MYSTERIOUS SKIN and KABOOM, there's nothing to stop Araki from becoming the next Gus Van Sant.
Rating - 9.5/10
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